The Hermit Kingdom Goes Nuclear Podcast

Listen to Slate's review of the week in politics.

Become a fan of the Political Gabfest on Facebook. We will be updating the Facebook page more frequently and including content that you will only be able to find there, so get your Gabfest fix during the week by joining us there.

Listen to the Gabfest forMay 29 by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:

You can also download the program here, or you can subscribe to the weekly Gabfest podcast feed in iTunes by clicking here.Get your free 14-day trial membership of Gabfest sponsor Audible.com, which includes a credit for one free audiobook, here. This week's recommendation comes from listener Cecilia Gaposchkin, who suggests The Help by Kathryn Stockett, read by Cassandra Campbell, Jenna Lamia, Octavia Spencer, and Bahni Turpin. The story of two black women working as help in the homes of two white women in 1960s Jackson, Miss., The Help is a fantastic tale, and this reading of it is mind-blowing, according to Cecilia.

Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz talk politics. This week: Obama makes a Supreme Court nomination, Proposition 8 is upheld by California's high court, and the Hermit Kingdom goes nuclear again.

David chatters about a series of articles to be published in Slatenext week. Daniel Engber will examine how the kidnapping of a Dalmatian in 1965 led to the animal rights movement and the first legislation protecting animal rights. (Update, June 1: Read the first entry of the series here, and discuss it on Facebook here.)

Emily chatters about another Sotomayor decision, Jocks v. Tavernier, in which Sotomayor unexpectedly sided with law enforcement and persuaded a conservative colleague to join her opinion. Emily wrote about this fascinating ruling as part of her exploration of the Supreme Court nominee.

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John chatters about the controversy in Canada, where Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean ate raw seal heart as part of an Inuit ceremony. Her actions outraged animal rights activists and some in the European Union but won her praise from the Inuit.

The e-mail address for the Political Gabfest is gabfest@slate.com. (E-mail may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Posted on May 29 by Jefferson Pestronk at 3:50 p.m.

May 22, 2009

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Listen to the Gabfest for May 22 by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:

You can also download the program here or you can subscribe to the weekly Gabfest podcast feed in iTunes by clicking here.

Get your free 14-day trial membership of Gabfest sponsor Audible.com, which includes a credit for one free audiobook, here. This week there's something even better than a recommendation for a good book: a free copy of Good Book, by David Plotz and recorded by David Plotz. As a special gift from the Gabfest and Audible for both new and existing Audible members and Gabfest fans, everyone can go online and download Good Book from this special URL, active for one week only starting Friday, May 22: http://www.audible.com/goodbook. Download it and enjoy it, and we also hope that Gabfest fans who are not yet Audible subscribers will follow the link at the top of this paragraph and sign up today.

Emily Bazelon, special guest Slate political reporter Christopher Beam, and David Plotz talk politics. This week: President Obama and Dick Cheney square off about torture, Michael Steele celebrates 100 stormy days as head of the RNC, and California faces a budget meltdown.

David chatters about the upcoming book Shop Class as Soulcraft, by Matthew B. Crawford. Slate's Michael Agger wrote about the book this week, causing David to consider other career paths. David also recalls Studs Terkel's Working, in which the only person really happy with his job was a stone mason.

The e-mail address for the Political Gabfest is gabfest@slate.com. (E-mail may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Posted on May 22 by Jefferson Pestronk at 5:30 p.m.

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May 15, 2009

Become a fan of the Political Gabfest on Facebook. We will be updating the Facebook page more frequently and including content that you will only be able to find there, so get your Gabfest fix during the week by joining us there.

Listen to the Gabfest for May 15 by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:

You can also download the program here, or you can subscribe to the weekly Gabfest podcast feed in iTunes by clicking here.

Get your free 14-day trial membership of Gabfest sponsor Audible.com, which includes a credit for one free audiobook, here. This week's Audible recommendation, from Sean Oskea, is for a reader rather than a book. His favorite reader is Barbara Rosenblat, whom he says has an incredible vocal range and the ability to make each character in a book instantly recognizable, regardless of gender, age, nationality, or anything else. From Barbara Rosenblat's oeuvre on Audible, Emily selects a favorite novel, Suite Française by Irene Nemirovsky (narrated along with Daniel Oreskes), a moving portrait of the experience of the French during the Second World War.

Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz talk politics. This week's Gabfest took place in front of a live studio (actually, synagogue) audience at the Sixth and I Historic Synagogue. Their topics this week: President Obama reverses course on releasing detainee photos, delays a decision on overturning "don't ask, don't tell," and kills at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.

David chatters about an article in the Atlantic that describes one of the longest-running longitudinal studies of happiness ever conducted. The Grant Study started following members of Harvard's classes of 1942, '43, and '44 when they were sophomores in college and has been tracking them ever since.

John chatters about an article in The New Yorker that examines why children who have self-restraint at a young age prosper later in life. Jumping off from an experiment in which 4-year-old children were asked to wait to eat marshmallows, scientists discovered that the ability to bridle their sweet tooths was more indicative of future self-discipline.

Emily chatters about an article on the recently-launched Slate Group magazine Double X (which she co-edits). The piece chronicles a boy who is probably the country's youngest user of medical marijuana. His mom describes her choice to treat her son's autism and chronic pain by using marijuana after deciding not to use Risperdal, a more common pharmaceutical treatment that carries risks for young children.

The e-mail address for the Political Gabfest is gabfest@slate.com. (E-mail may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Posted on May 8 by Jefferson Pestronk at 3:22 p.m.

May 8, 2009

Become a fan of the Political Gabfest on Facebook. We will be updating the Facebook page more frequently and including content that you will be able to find only there, so get your Gabfest fix during the week by joining us there.

Listen to the Gabfest for May 8 by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:

Get your free 14-day trial membership of Gabfest sponsor Audible.com, which includes a credit for one free audiobook, here. This week, executive producer Andy Bowers endorses the New York Times Audio Digest, a free benefit of Audible membership. Each morning, Andy has the paper read to him during his extensive shaving regimen, and aside from getting shaving cream on his iPhone, he could not be happier. Andy also recommends How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer.

Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz talk politics. This week: speculation on a Supreme Court replacement, Pakistan-Afghanistan crisis week in Washington, and the Elizabeth Edwards tell-all.

Emily chatters about the imminent launch of Slate's sibling site Double X (www.doublex.com). Stay tuned, and until the new site is online, read Emily's "XX Factor" blog posts on Slate.

David chatters about the genesis of America's problem with big cars. A blog post posits that tariffs on foreign trucks, originally implemented in retaliation for tariffs on American chickens, have provided incentives for the Big Three automakers to build SUVs and other large vehicles rather than small, fuel-efficient cars.

The e-mail address for the Political Gabfest is gabfest@slate.com. (E-mail may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Posted on May 8 by Jefferson Pestronk at 10:50 a.m.

May 1, 2009

Listen to the Gabfest for May 1 by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:

You can also download the program here, or you can subscribe to the weekly Gabfest podcast feed in iTunes by clicking here.

Get your free 14-day trial membership of Gabfest sponsor Audible.com, which includes a credit for one free audiobook, here. This week, we featured recommendations sent in by two listeners. First, Christopher Proctor recommends Predictably Irrationalby Dan Ariely. Christopher says it is so good that he requires his macroeconomics students to read it, and David heartily endorses the selection. Second, Bill Walthall recommendsThe Graveyard Bookby Neil Gaiman, a scary children's book that won the 2009 Newbery Medal as the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz talk politics. This week: Swine flu sweeps the nation, Arlen Specter becomes a Democrat, and President Obama celebrates the Hallmark holiday of politics.

Here are articles and other links related to this week's topics:

The outbreak of swine flu grew more severe during the week. For the first time, the World Health Organization raised its pandemic alert to Phase 5. John, emboldened by a mysterious public-health source who equipped him with the background facts to explain the outbreak's progression, discusses the concept of "drift versus shift" and how it affects pandemics. A New York Times graphic showed that the first wave of flu during the 1918 pandemic caused relatively few deaths before a second wave hit with a much higher mortality rate. Research conducted several years ago showed that for the influenza virus, it's really not the heat; it's the humidity. Some experts claimed that improved knowledge and public-health approaches will mitigate the severity of a potential pandemic.

Emily chatters about David Leonhardt's interview of President Obama in the May 3 New York Times Magazine. At the end of their conversation, Leonhardt asked President Obama what he was reading, and the president replied Netherland by Joseph O'Neill. Emily and David both express their extreme dislike of the novel, leading John to conclude that he will skip reading it (but he could listen to the unabridged version on Audible).

David chatters about a profile of the old "new journalist" Gay Talese in New Yorkmagazine. The piece describes Talese's upcoming book about his relationship with his wife, publisher Nan Talese, with whom he will celebrate his 50th anniversary this June. Reaching that milestone is all the more impressive, according to the article, given Gay Talese's "tendency to take the participant-observer concept to the extreme" while writing about the sexual revolution in Thy Neighbor's Wife.

Also, David has scanned a key page of the New England Monthly article about John Yoo that he chattered about last week. He continues to try to get his hands on a full copy of the article, and if he manages to procure one, we will post the entire article.

John chatters about the new White House Flickr feed. The photos on the feed show views of White House life that most Americans have never seen, including images of the rarely seen family residence and of White House aides eating pizza in the Roosevelt Room.

The e-mail address for the Political Gabfest is gabfest@slate.com . (E-mail may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)